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Sketches and ramblings of a legendary nerd

3 Things to know about Smilodon

1/9/2016

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Whatever strange google search drove you here, (Or maybe you have strong opinions on the Late Pleistocene, how am I to know what goes on in that head?) I'm looking at some big cats. Because the internet needed more cats on it. Let me list the ways:
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Purrrrrrfect. Flea-bitten. Smilodon.
1. It's been quiet the last 10k.
It has been 10,000 infamous, second-rate years since this big pussy cat walked among us. Which seems totally unfair. Those canines say, "I'm here to party!" Or "Stabby." Either way, how the world has managed to hold itself together without an amazing amount of saber-toothed cat hair is a matter of speculation. We assume the hairballs were terrifying.

Since nature has been getting away with stone-cold murder since life began*, I suppose no one will hold evolution accountable for yet another tragedy. 

2. Smilodon was freakin' cut! 
Smilodon knows what the ladies like, and the ladies like big, freaking stabby canines coming out of your face. About a head shorter than today's lion, but nearly twice as heavy. 


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Helloooo laides!
3. Smilodon paws are wicked.
These meat-hooks could seriously lower the value of your leather furniture. As you can see in the cast below, smilodon had retractable claws. 
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Retractable claws. Try to not get all judgy cheetahs.
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Birds are Black Holes

12/5/2016

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Sorry I haven't had time to internet lately. If this post seems ridiculous and slightly more random than usual, blame birds. I like birds. I really do. But their personal care and well-being is next to the definition of impossible. They are black holes that will drain all your time and resources and should come with warning labels because I pay taxes, darn it, and my government is totally dropping the ball.
American Robin bird songbird rescue Jessica Magnus-Rockeman 4dogarts.com
American Robin with NO government warning.

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How to Paint a smilodon Skeleton in photoshop

22/4/2016

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Smilodons attack Bison Latifrons skeletons, 4dogarts.com Jessica Magnus-Rockeman
Smilodons attack a Bison Latifrons. We start with an under-painting of smudgy browns and create a new layer in photoshop with an overlay setting to make the light mimic the overhead lighting you see in museum displays.

Whatever strange google search drove you here, (Or maybe you have strong opinions on the Late Pleistocene, how am I to know what goes on in that head?) I'm looking at some big cats. Because the internet needed more cats on it. Let me list the ways:
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Black Bear vs. Grizzly Bear

12/3/2016

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Black bear vs grizzly bear skulls science biology museum characteristics nature wildlife evolution art

The bear skull on the right belonged to a 3 year old female black bear. The bear skull on the left was a quite old grizzly who died in a zoo. Here's the thing, and I cannot think of a better way to illustrate the point other than laying them out side by side: Give or take a million-or-so years ago - these bears were the same size. The Pleistocene was freakin' huge.
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Black bear skull grizzly bear skull side by side size comparison
Black Bear and Grizzly Bear skulls - side by side

​But neither of them could put a dent in a giant short faced bear. Not only was it twice the size of a brown bear, (Think of a grizzly or Kodiak bear and then double it,) It was also built for speed. You only had to worry about running into a giant short faced bear if you lived on the North American continent during the Pleistocene, but if you met, there is a high probability that running would definitely be involved.
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Black bear skull, grizzly bear skull, science, anatomy, biology, art reference, free images, 4 dogarts, Jessica Magnus-Rockeman
In case you were wondering, "Yes. The grizzly bear skull is heavy."

Sticking with the Pleistocene theme, brown bears with us today first appeared in Asia and then spread to North America and Europe. Not without a sense of irony, they would have passed by the giant pandas who first appeared in Europe during the late Miocene and then made their way to eastern Asia during the Pleistocene.
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Black Bear Skull

7/3/2016

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Black Bear skull, Jessica magnus Rockeman, 4 dog arts, free images, science, anatomy, biology, how to draw, ice age, paleontology
Black Bear skull.
American black bears are eating machines and are mostly vegetarian. However, shy vegetarians don't get a lot of press, so let's not forget the fact that nature equipped the Black Bear with a pretty powerful set of teeth and claws.

Sketches coming soon. Soon!
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Evolution of the Horse - 1920s Style

6/2/2016

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Evolution of the Horse. Click the image to download the full page.
The evolution of the horse as only the Country Gentleman in 1920s America can showcase! An alert reader from Illinois sent us this BRILLIANT page from the glory days of gigantic publications. (Back in the day, Sunday funnies filed an entire page, and magazines like the Country Gentleman were 11 x 14 inches/ 28 x 35.5 cm.)

It was a dark and heavy time for postal workers. 

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Ha-Haaaaa! Its funny, because the bird is fishing, and the sign says "No Fishing Allowed." Classic Country Gentleman humour. I don't know why they're not still in print. Image source: Magazineart.org

​A publication like this would set you back a whole 5 cents in the 1920s, but it was full of great nuggets. Such as, if you were particularly unbothered by trying to pronounce “Przhevalski’s Horse,” (Prezwalski’s Horse) the Country Gentleman makes it easy on you. Provided you can sneeze. 

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Sneeze horses. By Charles R. Knight.

​This Eohippus shows the classic case of forest-horse rounded spine. As the magazine says, compare its skeleton to that of the draft/draught horse skeleton. Eohippus had four toes on each forefoot and three on each hind foot, with each toe ending in a small hoof. The foot had a pad in the center, (think of a dog) that carried most of the animal's weight. This pad has become the small growth on the back of the fetlock called the ergot on the modern horse. The Eohippus teeth munched on shrubbery as well. There are historic horses, and prehistoric horses. An Eohippus is definitely in the latter category.

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Eohippius skeleton
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Arabian vs. Draft horse with a draft horse skeleton.

Thanks for the sweet mail! The Country Gentleman and those who put it together had some fun with this page, as you can tell. Keep it coming, you legendary nerds! 

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Coyote: Evolutionary Survivor

7/12/2015

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As anyone who lives among coyotes can tell you, its a master of adaptation. Coyotes have flourished in part by exploiting the changes that people have made to the environment, but their adaptability goes back further than that. 

​Let's look at the coyote's skull. For a closer look at coyote skull anatomy, you can see Skullduggery here.
coyote skull
Skulls have a lot to tell you. They are also cool.

Coyote Evolution

If you dial back 6 million years ago, (And for the record, that's not that long ago, our ancestors were just parting with chimps then,) carnivores had a lot of competition. If you jump through the various ice ages, you'll note that our modern coyotes are puny, fun sized creatures compared to their ancestors. 
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Coyotes used to be bigger and badder back in the day. This is turning into every story your grandparents told you, except this one is true.

The wake of the climatic changes that began about 6 million years ago benefited those of the lupine lineage. The world was drying out. Forest was being replaced by scrub and savanna. The opening up of grassy plains and the prey that prospered on them also provided opportunity for fast, long legged predators. 
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It could be said, those of the dog family are not tidy eaters.
But that doesn't mean the whole climate change thing working well for everyone. Those larger prey animals, including megafauna, are dying off. 
Coyotes have a varied diet
The coyote's diet turned to creatures of cute and cuddly description. Of course, insects, fish, carrion, and vegetation are still on the coyote option menu.

Sources

VONHOLDT, B. M., POLLINGER, J. P., EARL, D. A., KNOWLES, J. C., BOYKO, A. R., PARKER, H., GEFFEN, E., PILOT, M., JEDRZEJEWSKI, W., JEDRZEJEWSKA, B., SIDOROVICH, V., GRECO, C., RANDI, E., MUSIANI, M., KAYS, R., BUSTAMANTE, C. D., OSTRANDER, E. A., NOVEMBRE, J. AND WAYNE, R. K.A genome-wide perspective on the evolutionary history of enigmatic wolf-like canidsIn-text: (vonHoldt et al.)
Bibliography: vonHoldt, Bridgett M. et al. 'A Genome-Wide Perspective On The Evolutionary History Of Enigmatic Wolf-Like Canids'. Genome Research 21.8 (2011): 1294-1305. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
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Skull Identification 

29/11/2015

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Have you ever come across a skull and wondered what it was? You can learn answers by asking questions and finding clues. *Note. I am assuming a certain level of understanding with the following pictures and text. If you have questions, you can always ask. That's how lessons work.
Learn how to
Skulls have clues about how an animal lived.

"What clues am I looking for?"

Start asking a series of questions. 
  • What sort of teeth does it have? (Molars, canines, none, both?)
  • Where are the eyes? (Front or sides?)
  • What size is it? (Break out your measure tape.)
  • How did it die? (Look for signs of drama.)
There are more basic interrogative questions, (beaks, antlers/horns/etc.) but you get the idea. If you have time to search or buy a skull key, they can be a valuable teaching aid in the classroom, museum, or when someone shows up at your door and goes, "What is this the skull of?"



Inspecting a skull

Let's play Sherlock. If you want the full image collection of this skull, you can see Skullduggery here.
Coyote skull mandible teeth
If you found the teeth: incisor, canine, premolar, & molar, give yourself 10 points. If you know carnassial teeth, give yourself another 10 points.
How to read a skull for clues
Skulls have clues: Keep looking.
'
​Looking at the skull, we can quickly learn a few facts. We know its teeth tell us it eats a varied, omnivorous diet. We know that it's smaller than a wolf. We know that it's eyes point forward. (As the saying goes: "​Eyes in the front, the animal hunts. Eyes ​on the side, the animal hides.")
Verdict: the cause of the coyote death was impact.
Coyote cause of death = an impact. If you found the evidence of trauma, give yourself another 10 points.
Nicely done! Skullduggery was a normal, healthy coyote. Until he wasn't. Best of luck with all your skull identifying adventures. Be safe out there!

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PS: Creative Commons Zero. As in free. As in, do whatever you want. If these images can help you draw, learn, lesson plan, and, whatever commercially you're using a photo of a coyote skull for: knock yourself out. I really don't have time to answer every image request, so know please you have permission, and I'm happy you found something useful here. Cheers!
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Cougar Skulls

3/11/2015

 
Puma concolor probably takes the prize for the most variety of names. Mountain lion, puma, American panther, ghost cat, cougar, yeah, they’re all the same thing. If you’re still dropping “Catamount” then you are probably not invited to many dinner parties.

There are actually more than 80 names for the biggest of the small cats. No doubt, due in many ways to their adaptable nature. These kitties are the model of success, with evolution endowing them with the tools to thrive from the Yukon to Patagonia.
 
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Front and center with a cougar.
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Rear view of the cougar skull. That hole you're seeing is where the spine connects up to the thinky-thinky parts.
A cougar will typically kill a deer/moose/whatever other large critter about 2 times a month. If the cat is living on smaller prey, obviously, it will be hunting more often. These cats aren’t terribly picky eaters, which is not a bad thing in survival terms.  
 
As carnivores go, felids in general have a relatively small number of teeth. If you’ve ever watched your housecat eat, it can’t really chew that well. Their teeth are better suited to tearing and cutting.
 
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Chances are, if you are in one of the Americas, that you’ve been close to a Mountain Lion, and you just didn’t know it. They are solitary ninja-jedi-007-masters who happen to operate most efficiently at dawn and dusk. Crepuscular is the 5-dollar word for that sort of behavior.
 
Mountain lions don’t actually roar, but they are otherwise rather vocal cats when they want to be. They are known to whistle, scream, purr, yowl, and squeak. Females are actually pretty well known for this “Song of love.”  https://youtu.be/pxo8X5uIWRE

Sources

Citations sound better when you read them in your best LeVar Burton voice. “But you don’t have to take my word for it.”
 
Special thanks to the SHSND A&HP.

Bradford, Alina Bradford. 'Pumas, Panthers & Cougars: Facts About America's Big Cats'. LiveScience.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

http://gf.nd.gov/wildlife/fish-wildlife/id/mammals/carnivores/mountain-lion

STATUS OF MOUNTAIN LION MANAGEMENT IN NORTH DAKOTA, 2014. North Dakota Game and Fish Department, 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Parliamentary of Owls. Mountain Lion Screaming. 2015. https://youtu.be/pxo8X5uIWRE Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
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Wozencraft, W.C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 544–45. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.

Coyote skullduggery

25/10/2015

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Despite my husband's objections, I am often found with the possession of skulls and other bones. It's all pretty self-explanatory, really. 
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The Wile E. Coyote. Very unappreciated for his exquisite paintings of road tunnels and engineering.
Canis Latrans, if you want to get uppity about it, is one of my North American favorites. Adaptable. Problem solving. Top-down management style of the rodent population. What's not to like here? Coyotes will even hybridize with domestic dogs and occasionally with wolves. Although, if we're honest, when a wolf and a coyote meet, it usually doesn't end well for the coyote. 
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Eagle eyed viewers will note somewhere in the cleaning process, I lost a molar.
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Just look at that sagittal crest. Or, the top of the skull, if you're a normal human being.
​In evolutionary terms, the coyote is a survivor. His ancestors were bigger than we see him today. If you like the company of your barn cats, that's probably not such a bad thing.

Skull Puns

Nobody thinks this is funny but me. I don't get paid to do stuff like this, but I totally should. 
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PS: Don't go randomly picking up road kill, people. For many reasons. It stinks, is probably shattered beyond repair, and could make you really, really sick. You don't need that in your life, right? Right. Besides, you can use any of these images anytime you want. If you need a large resolution file for printing, all you gotta do is ask. I'll hook you up.

Be safe out there. Cheers!
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